Whether it’s achieving a target at work, losing a certain amount of weight, or saving money for your dream purchase; finding motivation can be incredibly difficult at the most important times. Although many challenges come with a physical battle, conquering a lack of motivation and overcoming personal hurdles undoubtedly begins within our own minds.
Our thoughts often determine whether or not we can find inner motivation and having even the slightest of doubts can stop this from happening.
One afternoon last week, sitting outside enjoying the glorious summer sunshine, we spoke with Ben Edwards, a self-confidence expert and relationship coach, who gave us his tips on how to find motivation even at your lowest point.
Begin the day right
If you’re someone who sets 10 alarms with a 2-minute gap to help persuade you to get up, don’t. Set one alarm and push yourself out of bed. This will immediately trigger your mental ability to conquer a small barrier. Having an extra 20 minutes of time to either get ready, make food or perhaps participate in a quick exercise session will leave you feeling fresh.
Another useful tip is to leave your phone across the room; not on your bedside table. This encourages you to get up, move and stretch instead of rolling over and checking social media. If you can successfully tackle the first task of your day, it will inevitably put you in a good mood and motivate you to achieve further targets.
Create a vision
For many, seeing the potential outcome of hard work, such as driving a dream car or being in a personal office, can spark motivation. Visual thoughts allow you to create the scenario in which you imagine yourself and no doubt about it, this will feel good. Pair this with a podcast or up-beat music playlist and you’ll feel like Rocky before his final fight. It’s also important to think positively; although this is easier to say than do, having doubts in the back of your mind will impact your motivation. Challenge these head on with a more proactive attitude.
Write your goals down
From completing simple tasks such as arranging an appointment, to yearly goals of reaching a certain milestone, write down anything you wish to complete. Putting this somewhere that you often pass or can easily glance at will give you gentle reminders to not give up. Having a tick list also allows for a visual representation of how many tasks you’ve completed, giving immediate feedback. The feeling of removing something from your list can fuel ambition to conquer the next.
Dream big with small acts
When motivation is at an all-time low, reassess the situation and begin small. Doing an hourly workout five days a week or arriving to work 30 minutes early each day isn’t a realistic goal early on. Instead, take small steps and constantly improve. A quick 5-10 minute workout each morning with a gradual increase as the weeks pass will be more beneficial to your mentality. Begin to put yourself into a routine and stick with it. Do tasks at a similar time in the day until your mind locks it down.
Remember, without consistency you’ll never finish; start small and work your way up.
Remove distractions
A big part of the battle when finding motivation is removing distractions that could disrupt your workflow. In a modern age where social media has taken over lives, it’s difficult to avoid checking regular updates. We all know how hard it is to put our phones away for the day, so leave it in another room when you’re tackling tasks. If you’re in the middle of a workout, leave it across the gym/room until you finish. If you’re sitting in an office completing a large task, turn your phone upside down and put it on silent; productivity levels will increase, leaving you motivated to complete the next goal.
